I propose to take Questions Nos. 81, 110, 141, 147 and 149 together.
There are currently 246,000 customers in receipt of a contributory State pension. Of these, some 37,000 — 15% — reside outside the State in some 63 countries. The majority of these are resident in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America, Canada, Germany and Spain. A breakdown of the number of recipients can be provided to the Deputies if necessary.
In the Department's experience, the death of a contributory State pension recipient residing abroad is generally notified to the pension section without delay, either by a spouse, a surviving relative or a financial institution. Notifications of customer deaths are received on a daily basis through the customer contact centre, in writing and via e-mail. Pension payments are stopped on receipt of these notifications and appropriate action initiated.
The Department has put arrangements in place with a number of foreign institutions to ensure that we are notified when a recipient of a contributory State pension resident outside the State dies. In this regard, the Department works in close co-operation with the Department of Social Development in Northern Ireland and the Department of Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom and arrangements are underpinned by a memorandum of understanding between these organisations. A control arrangement is also in place with the Australian Centrelink authorities whereby the Department receives a monthly electronic file of deaths where an Irish State pension is in payment. The Department is a member of a six nations' group, involving Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, which addresses and agrees common approaches on control issues and the sharing of information.
In addition, at the start of each year, a mail shot issues to all contributory State pension customers resident abroad notifying them of their new pension rate and reminding them to let the Department know of any changes to their circumstances that would affect their entitlements. Any letters returned undelivered receive urgent attention. This process acts as an additional control measure.
As part of the Department's ongoing control strategy, periodic reviews are undertaken in order to determine customers' continuing eligibility for pensions. In this regard, the Department has initiated a customer certification process for contributory State pension customers resident in Ireland and abroad. Letters issue to customers for completion and return of a certificate within a specified time. Follow-up action is taken where no reply is received from the customer or where the letter is returned undelivered.
To date, some 1,000 letters have issued to contributory State pension customers. Of these, 300 were issued to pension recipients resident outside the State. Some 81% of these customers have responded and replies are still being processed. It is planned to issue a further 7,000 letters to contributory State pension customers resident abroad by the end of 2008.
I am committed to ensuring that social welfare payments are available to those who are entitled to them. I am satisfied that measures are in place to ensure that payments to customers resident outside the State are stopped when they are deceased. The Department's control programme is carefully monitored and the various measures are continuously refined to ensure that they remain effective.